Evening Sailor

Happy Father's Day!

Sorry to hear the DVD didn't work, but you will get to see them all for real very soon!

your wife

Dear Sailor

It was a good day at work and by that I mean it was productive and I feel like I accomplished something.

Rhymetime this morning was busy, again. Yay. I am averaging around 26 children to the Tuesday session. Today there were quite a few new faces, including a brand new baby (9 days old). Quite a few of the regulars are having bubs, when they arrive I feel very lucky to be able greet these new faces and welcome them to Rhymetime (awake, or asleep, lol).

I had three mums tell me I looked 22yrs old. Two of them were gobsmacked when they overheard me discussing my kidlets with another parent (or two, I love talking about my kids). One had gone so far as to suggest I go and become a Kindy Teacher and so we were talking about my qualifications (because she was impressed with the session and wanted to know what experience I had) and I mentioned that I considered my own children to be valuable experience, and when she asked me how many/how old they were she nearly dropped off her seat. It is quite amusing to see people's reactions, and I have now had so many people say the same thing about my age that I really must accept that I look 9 years younger than I am! Nice!

Must be my chubby cheeks.

When it was suggested I become a Teacher I said 'no thanks'. I have had the same thing said to me before, many times in fact, but I realised that one of the things I enjoy most about this job is that I deal with ages 0 - 17 years, I am not restricted to one age group. Also, I see the kids for an hour or two a day, whereas Teachers spend 6 hours per day with the same kids, every day for 40 weeks or so of the year. I think I would get bored as a Teacher.

Something that I believe my regular parents have appreciated is that I have made an effort to remember their child's name. Of course, sometimes I forget, especially if they have been away for a while, but if they come for two or three weeks in a row I usually remember. I like being able to say 'Hello ...." when I see them in the shopping centre, or when they arrive at Rhymetime or whatever session they come to. However, the parents names are a whole other story. Sometimes I remember, often I don't even ask, and so I know them by their children - 'Hi Tiffany's mum', 'excuse me, Christina's nanna' lol.

Continuing on from my enjoyable morning, I assisted in the rearranging of our Branch library this afternoon, which was very physically tiring. So tiring that I went to bed at 8pm when Matt and Will did, slept for two hours, and then have gotten up again to finish housework and have computer time. I told Scott I was going to bed and he seemed concerned, but I just explained that it had been a tough day for my poor old body (so of course that got the response 'you're not old, mum'). I set the kitchen alarm for him so he would know when to go to bed (because if I didn't he would still be down here playing the computer). If I leave him to it he is very good about doing what he is told, not sure why it has to be any different to when I am standing over him telling him to go to bed (for the tenth time), but it is.

so there you go, that's the day done.

Matthew now says his name. His favourite game is bumping balloons around in the air or playing catch and throw with them.

Kindy routine - when we arrive in the morning I sign Matt in, then he comes and helps me put his stuff away. By this, I mean I put his bag in his cubby and he takes his nappies (or his 'bum' as he calls them) and I help him put them in his nappy cubby. Then he sits on the little toilet in the change room, with his pants still on. But he says 'wee' and points to the toilet and I encourage him to sit on it, I figure it is good practice. After that we always go and wash and dry our hands because he has 'been' to the toilet. He likes this best and would happily stand with his hands under the running water for a while, but I encourage him back out in to the play area and get him settled so I can go.

Matt occasionally sits on his potty at home. On Sunday night he had a bare bum (had gotten out of the bath and was doing his usual nuddy run) and he said 'wee' so I got the potty and sat him on it and after a couple of goes (on, off, on, off, on) he did a wee. Then he ran off before I could cheer, lol. Tonight he brought his nappy to me to put on, so I got his potty and suggested he sit on it first, which he did (on, off, on, off, etc), but he didn't produce anything. It is all good. I am not going to pressure him, especially since it is still cold and the kindy and I have already discussed starting the intensive work in September (which is only a week away!).

Scott and Will got your emails, Scott has replied, not sure about Will. They are both excited about the trip to Queensland.

your wife

Dear Sailor

I swear Matt has found new words overnight. It is like he turned two and a switch flicked. He will generally repeat a word after you say it, might not remember it next time, but they learn by repetition anyway. Like tonight, he held up a pea, babbled something at me and I said 'pea'. He said 'pea' and ate it!

When he sees a ball he says 'ball,kick', he calls his nappies 'bum', he said 'Awick' (warwick), and 'Bye, manda' when the babysitter (Amanda) left the other day. He can now say 'Wiggle'. When he sees the Olympic swimmers he laughs and says 'bath!'

He says 'bike' when he sees a motorbike or pushbike, he still says 'car' for trucks and utes, and 'bus' for planes and buses.

I can tell him to put his dinner plate on the table and he does it without spilling.

He knows that when the oven light is on that it is hot and he will point to it and say 'hot'.

He can say 'not nice' and 'notty' (naughty). He understands 1, 2, 3, and that 3 could mean trouble for him, lol. He can sort of count up to ten (with someone helping).

He loves to play chasies, when he wants you to he will run a little, kind of looking over his shoulder, and say 'RAH', that is your cue to chase him (slowly but noisily so it sounds like you are really chasing, and you have to say 'RAH' too).

He is fearless.

He likes swings and slides and climbing. When he sees a see-saw he sings 'see-saw, see-saw'.

Pretty amazing isn't he.

your wife

Dear Hubby

The boys played great games of soccer on Saturday, with both teams winning. Will had his final game and Scott now goes on to the Grand Finals, YAY!
Will trying hard

Scott waiting to go on

We had Matt's birthdya yesterday, he was very impressed with his pressies, particularly the one 'you' gave him.

New words - kick, arwick (warwick), mine, who's this. He is counting a bit, I say 'one', he says 'two', I say 'three', he says 'four' and 'bive'.

Your wife

Dear Hubby

Sorry for my slackness in writing. I have been looking after myself, and that has meant going to bed by 10pm, so I haven't had time to write.

I got pretty crook after I had the tooth out and I am back on antibiotics...oh, hang on, I have to go have my night dose....ok, back again, yeah, so I am on antibiotics and feeling much improved. The gap isn't obvious unless I am laughing like a hyena.

LOL
I think you can see what I had for breakfast!

Anyway, the gap is a bit distracting and I find that I notice the teeth around it more. Weird.

Matt now says 'POT!!!!' very loudly and firmly when he wants you to STOP! LOL!!!! It sounds so funny.

Will played soccer on the weekend, they lost 1-0, Scott had a bye. It was a busy weekend, but I can't remember what we did!

night
your wife

Evening Sailor

There was an almighty storm this afternoon. It hit around 2.30pm and lasted for a couple of hours. At one stage I was standing in the supermarket opposite Matt's daycare when we (other customers and I) heard an massive bang and it felt like the floor rocked for a second. A light fitting came loose from the ceiling and was hanging by some wires. Apparently lightning struck an antennae on the roof of the building.

Feeling a little sorry for myself today. I went to the dentist today to discuss the tooth that has been giving me gripe for some time and he decided it needed to come out. I was actually very happy about this as it keeps getting infected and painful. So out it came! I now have a molar sized gap in my mouth. No pain as yet, even though the anaesthetic has worn off. I have stocked up on painkillers just in case. It did bleed an awful lot though, it has really only settled down in the last half hour, 5 hours after I had it out. I don't know how vampires can do it, you know, drink blood, it tastes pretty gross to me and it has made me feel nauseous.

I haven't been able to eat anything, firstly because of the blood, and secondly because I am not supposed to eat anything hard or hot, so that kind of limits things tonight. I have just had a cold Milo sucked through a straw, my first substance in 6 hours. I was starving! Bring on breakfast!

Hope I will feel fine tomorrow as I have to be cheery for Rhymetime.

Boys are all good, as usual. Will was going to email you with a question about the PSP (how much does one cost), not sure if he actually got round to it though. Can you email and tell him (he specifically wants to know from you).

nighty night
your wife

Dear Hubby

Well, tonight was supposed to be Parent/Teacher night, but for me it did not happen. It was a drop in set-up, from 5pm to 7pm. Well that was my first grrrr, because I don't finish work till 5pm, by the time I collect all the kids it is usually 5.45, and they are starving and refuse to be temporarily sated with a drink of water and a mini bag of popcorn. No...must have dinner NOW! Which is why you find me cooking almost as soon as I set foot in the door.

Anyway, so the time it was on was a bit iffy for me, and this was exacerbated by my sudden desire to rearrange the children's area, organising that event for this Tuesday night, before coming to the horrifying realisation that I had double booked myself and wasn't prepared to let go of either.

*sigh*

SO I raced out of work, picked the kids up in record time, made it to the school by 5.45pm, to find a loooong queue of parents. Our precious angels were already squabbling (perfect description), I was stressed because I was on a tight time schedule, and frustrated at the ridiculousness of having to wait in line with a toddler when, if they had set up a booking system, I could have had my set 5 or 10 minutes, been in and out and been done with it. Not helped by the fact that they picked venues that were practically inaccessible for Matt's stroller, and no way was I letting him loose! I looked at the queue, I looked at the kids, I looked at my watch, and I turned and walked out. Got back to work to find the job half done already (yay Jennifer!!), finished it off in record time and was home by 7pm.

I am annoyed that I didn't get to talk to Scott's teachers, I really wanted some feedback from them that extended beyond the sameness they write in his report. I had a discussion with him about his report...

Me: So what's going on in your classes that you are distracted and talking?
Scott: I just wanna talk to my mates. But Tim keeps talking and mucking around and I get in trouble cos I tell him to shut up
Me: hmmmm (disbelieving it is all Tim's fault).
Scott...plus I'm bored
Me: what, are you stupid? (this got a laugh from Scott, which is what I meant to happen). Is that why your classes are no good.
Scott: no, they just are (seriously, this is like me saying 'just because' when they ask me why I said no). Even English is (which he is good at and his teacher apparently thinks very highly of him).

*sigh*

What do I do? I told him his behaviour is his responsibility and he needs to make the choice to get his work done and muck around outside the classroom (the usual good mummy routine). I find him hard to relate to where school is concerned because I enjoyed it (mostly).

On another, completely unrelated note....

I am excited! The washing machine works again! It was a ten minute job for the repairman, there was a hair band (shame on me) jamming things up. I have nearly gotten the weeks worth of washing done, yay for me!

cheers
your wife

Dear Sailor

Weekends, for me, are usually about recovering from the week before and re-energising for the week ahead. But I am not. Energised, I mean.

I worked Saturday morning and then for some wild reason I had volunteered to work Saturday afternoon as well, so I had a couple of hours break at home in the middle, part of which I spent watching Scott's soccer game, and then back to work until 8pm. I sat in front of my computer for 3 hours, not good. My eyes and butt were so sore by the time I left.

Working Saturday meant that the housework was saved for Sunday. yay. Being sans washing machine I had this brilliant idea that I would take the clothes to a self-service laundry. No-one told me they would be closed on a Sunday. Damn. I spent some time this afternoon hand washing uniforms so that we would all have something to wear for the next couple of days. I never thought I would find myself hand washing again, I haven't had to do it for a looong time, lol. My knuckles are a little raw.

My productiveness - I baked cookies and made sausage rolls, washed, went shopping, danced to the Wiggles and Hooley Dooleys with Matt, checked the worm farm (going well) and the veges (also going well), vacuumed (again! it is a daily de ja vu, lol).

Kids are good. Scott had TIm and Riku over last night, so they were noisy till the small hours of the morning. I really don't know where they find the energy. Will is fine. Matt is his usual gorgeous self.

Warwick visited today, on his motorbike!!! He got his bike on Wednesday, the same day he did his rider training, and got his license on Friday. He seems very confident.

your wife

Dear Sailor

It has been pouring with rain today. Matt loves the rain, and he especially loves puddles! So when I picked him up from Kindy today we spent some time jumping in the puddles. He just thought that was the bees knees, lol. He has a little yellow rain poncho type thing that has a hood, but he does not like having the hood up. He looks like a little bit of sunshine in a cloudy day when he wears it.

It is very very cold. 9 degrees in fact, icy wind and rain, brrrr. The hot water bottles will be out tonight!

your wife

Dear Hubby

No soccer this week due to rain. We had Tim over Friday night so we descended upon McDonalds and had a feast (stop drooling, lol). Tim and Scott played some sort of Olympics game of Tims on the Wii, Scott nearly knocked himself out jumping around under the bed! Whatever it was involved lots of arm waving. Will got a scooter for his birthday and has been giving it a good workout, so while the sun shone briefly on Saturday he raced up and down the street with the other kids. Matt drove me nuts watching Hooley Dooleys.

I have been attempting to address clutter issues. As you are well aware I have a number of boxes, in the shed, that I haven't opened in the year we have lived in this place, so it was time to do a real sort and chuck. I spent yesterday and today on this project and am satisifed with the dent I made. Out of 10 boxes I got rid of the equivalent of 5. Pat on the back for me, lol. We are having a council pick up tomorrow, the boxes of 'stuff that is going' are sitting out there waiting to disappear, along with our last years Xmas tree, two broken chairs and Scott's keyboard, which Matt jumped on and broke once and for all. Scott was a bit upset about it, I didn't need to point out that the floor wasn't really the best place to keep it. Before Matt broke it Matt had been having a lovely time serenading me with music, lol, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

I have been saving carefully for a few weeks now as there were some items I wanted to replace - old and/or broken with new. So today I went out and bought...
A new computer desk for the boys
Headphones for their computer (required for sanity)
Kettle (I wore the other one out)
A mouse for the computer (replacement of 'antique', lol)
A fish tank! This was purchased as our goldfish has grown out of his previous home, I expect he will be very happy to move.

So Sunday was spent building a computer table. It seriously took me and the boys (great helpers) 4 hours!!!! I was sooo glad when it was finally finished and set up.
We also visited a lovely friend who I haven't seen for a while, the boys and I went expecting to stay an hour, and ended up there for nearly three!

your wife

Dear Hubby

Scott and Will are coughing a bit, so I will have to keep an eye on them. I went back to the Dr again today as I still am not 100%. He has put me on Penicillin now, this should handle the cough and also help with my ear, which has been blocked since middle of last week.

I have Rhymetime tomorrow, not sure how my voice/throat is going to handle it.

Matt now says 'MINE' and 'NO'. I need to teach him 'YES'. He only gives goodnight kisses, if you ask him for a kiss he hides his head or turns away and says 'No'. So cute!

He had a good day at kindy today, no tears and lots of dancing.

your wife

Hello Sailor

Well, we are home sweet home after picking the boys up today. I am exhausted! Because of the big event in the city at the moment a number of roads are closed, including the ones I use to get out of the city. So I had to take a major alternate route that added about an hour to my trip (that is including all the back tracking I had to do when I got lost). I was glad to get into familiar territory.

The boys had a nice time at mums, they saw a couple of movies and went ice skating, among other things. I think they are glad to be home too though. They are back to school on Tuesday.

I was home early yesterday as Matt had a gastro bug. Took him to the Dr who just told me to limit Matt's milk intake and keep giving him boiled water. Matt was asleep when we got home so I popped in to bed and got some yard work done, including checking out my worms. They are growing and eating the food I am putting in. I feed them about a cup of scraps a week until they multiply a bit and can eat more. I also chopped back alot of the front garden as it was getting very overgrown and fertilised the veges that I have growing. Mum has given me some Kale and some Bok Choy, so I will plant them tomorrow. At present there is broccoli, tomatoes, spinach, strawberries and snow peas growing well. Hopefully we actually get some fruit off the strawberries this season.

cheers
your wife

Dear Hubby

Got up this morning and thought, 'yay, the antibiotics are working'. Walked out the front door and started coughing, and coughing, and coughing. Nothing like fresh air to make you want to cough your guts up! Didn't really settle down for the rest of the day. And now, to top it off, I have an ear ache coming. I can feel the pressure building in my ear and it has been itchy too, a sure sign something is not right. *sigh*


your wife

Photos

This is me, obviously, in my Elmo PJ's in the staffroom...


And this is myself and Jennifer singing Rock-a-bye your Bear, that's Matt in the foreground...

Dear Hubby

Well, the older two are now happily deposited at my mothers. I am sure they will enjoy themselves and I hope that they will be happy to see me next Saturday. It is rather quiet without them around. Traffic was fantastic up and back, did both trips in 2 hours. It will be a different story on Saturday.

Today was a 'me' day. These days are rare, as usually I am working or cleaning house, and while I might get an hour 'me' time here and there, it is not like having a whole day stretching before me filled with numerous possibilities. Some of my day was mapped out for me, I had a doctors appointment and I had to pop into work for ten minutes.

After dropping Matt off at day care (he didn't cry!!!) I headed up to Spotlight. I was after some lining for a shirt I am making for a wedding in August, this was easy to find, so I was in and out in 20 minutes. Then dropped into work. Then I was free for a while!

I went and had two inches chopped off my hair, so it is back to sitting just above my collar. The feeling of having my hair washed was divine. Then off to the video store to check out the latest offerings. I had thought I might see a movie at the cinemas, but decided that I really couldn't be bothered wasting 2 hours in the shopping centre and paying a ridiculous amount for a movie I might not like. So video store instead. I hired 'Jumper' and 'Alien vs Predator 2: Requiem'.

So home I went, put 'Jumper' on and set up to cut out the shirt I am making. I am using a beautiful grey silk chiffon and lining it with the stuff I bought today. I enjoyed 'Jumper' but felt there were some odd gaps in the story. I think I will go and read the book now. I am saving AvP2 for tonight.

Then back out to see the doctor. I am now on strong antibiotics for what he has diagnosed as Bronchitis (he did this by only looking at my throat and hearing me cough! Amazing powers of deduction).

Home again to complete the cutting of the shirt and then jumped on to the computer for an hour to catch up on emails and such like.

I chatted to Brenda last night. She is struggling a little with her new baby. I wish I had taken my holiday now, rather than at the birth, as now is when she could use the help. Although, with three kids tagging along I am not sure I would have been much help. Anyway, I encouraged her to seek assistance from Tresillian and she will hopefully do that.

I decided today was the day I would pop back to Matt's previous daycare to say 'Hi'. I wanted to see if I missed them, or if Matt missed them. No, we didn't really. It was nice to visit, but I was glad he wasn't going there any more, and he was happy to say 'hi' and have a cuddle and a little play with his old mates, but he was just as happy to leave too. I feel more secure in the decision I made. I also can't get over how much less fuel I am using! Instead of going through a tank a week I am going through just over half! Very pleased about that.

Hope all is well with you. I will be calling the boys tomorrow so will fill you in on what they have been up to.

Your Wife

Dear Sailor

Been having some Internet issues this week, very frustrating. I have tried to blog a couple of times and its cancelled out on me, hopefully I am successful tonight.

We had a PJ's and Stories session at work last night. While we only had 5 kids there it was a good practice run. I want to do it again in October when we have 'Fairytale Month' (one of my brilliant ideas, lol). We did a feltboard story, a stick puppet story, and a book. We sang sleepytime songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I have photo's at work (thanks to Scott who was our camera man), I will post them in the next day or so. I wore Elmo pj's and had my hair in pigtails, lol, it was fun.

The children's area was messy again yesterday and today, last night I had to rush around cleaning it up before our storytime. SO annoying.

Work was quite good today. I had a bookseller come and she had such a huge range, I was quite impressed. She normally sells to schools so the non-fiction is very suited to the current primary school curriculum. I enjoyed going through the fiction and picture books and seeing what is being produced at the moment.

Tax time again. I started doing it last night, then realised I needed your income to complete my tax thingy. I don't think I will get much back, but I have Kylie's wedding to attend in August and I was hoping to use it for that.

Matt didn't cry too much this morning, even though there was a few different faces in the baby room.

Will and Scott have been busy this week. On Monday Scott went ice-skating and Will had a movie day at vacation care. On Tuesday Will went bowling and Scott went to the Youth Centre and played pool and the PS3 (he was impressed). On Wednesday Scott stayed home with Tim, and Will had a craft day at vacation care. On Thursday Will went to the Wildlife Park and Scott went to see Kung Fu Panda (he loved it). On Friday (today) Will had Technology day at vacation care, so he took his DS and a couple of games, and Scott went to the Aquarium and Wildlife Park. So they have had a pretty busy week. We go to my mum's on Sunday, they will be there till the following Saturday. I spoke to mum tonight and she has quite a few things planned to keep them occupied.

My cough isn't improving so I am heading to the Doctor's on Monday.

your wife

Dear Hubby

Matt let me go with only a little squawk this morning.

Scott hung around the library with me until 11.30, I took an early lunch so that I could take him over to the Youth Centre to hang out with some kids his own age and play a game of pool. He got to try out a PS3, which he thought was pretty cool.

Will went bowling today, he came last! He said he needs to work on his ball holding skills, lol.

I had a pretty good day at work. I had another parent tell me how wonderful I am and quite a few kids turned up for our arabic storytime. The downer came in the afternoon when I came off my desk shift to find that some lovely child/ren had trashed the children's area. It really is the one thing I dislike about my job.

I hope you had a good day

your wife

Good Evening

Had a parent/teacher meeting with Will's teacher tonight and she had mostly great things to say about him. Only negative was that he rushes his work so that it is messy and he makes silly mistakes. I don;t think I have a P/T meeting with Scott's teacher's until next term! I am very interested to hear what they have to say.

Matt and I have cold's and I feel sick. If Matt's gunk turns green he gets sent home from school, so I guess I will be having a few days off this week, lol, it always turns green. It is about 'when', not 'if'. As a bonus there is conjunctivitis going around the daycare, oh the joys of having other people look after your kids.

I told my supervisor I wasn't singing tomorrow because I don't think my throat will last the half hour (I was struggling on Friday and it is worse today), she seemed a bit taken aback, lol, but why should me and the carers and kids have to suffer my croaky voice when there is bound to be a perfectly healthy one floating around! But I was thinking about it more tonight and thought maybe I could share the session with someone so that it isn't just me, so that if I have to stop I can and everyone else can still keep going. I am glad it is holidays next week and I can give my throat a break for two weeks (I don't do Rhymetime during holidays).

God, I just saw the time so I am going to sign off now. Now I know why I feel so tired! It is past my bedtime!

Brrrr

It has actually been a lovely sunny day, with tops of 16 degrees (was nice until the sun went down and the breeze came up, lol), right now it is a cool 13 degrees with an expected low of 6! Hot water bottles are in beds and layers are on! Slippers and dressing gowns are getting a work out these days.

Will played at 10.30am, they lost 2-1, against a team who flogged them earlier in the season, so it was actually a good loss if there is such a thing. Scott played at 1.30pm and their team lost also, but again it was a team that had flogged them in the past, and this time they only lost by a little (can't recall the actual score though).

After the games we went shoe shopping and replaced both big boys school shoes and joggers. I went slightly over what I had budgeted, but that was because I hadn't planned to buy both pairs of joggers. It's money well spent and will see them through another 4-5 months.

We have a Hi5 dvd on loan from the library, Matt loves it and says 'bive' when he wants to watch it. It goes back on Wednesday and I will see if there is a different one in. They are very popular.

Having morning tea here with Justine tomorrow so we can discuss her Tupperware rewards (she is excited, lol). Then I will do a bit of housework and at 2pm we are visiting Ally, Jedd and Grant. I have not spoken to Ally for a few weeks, I was surprised when I realised that, I guess time has gotten away from me/us. I am passing on some of Matt's toys to Jedd so will take them up with me. She is now 18 weeks pregnant so we will discuss that among other things.

Oh, I fixed the power windows, they just needed a new fuse.

sweet dreams
your wife

Dear Hubby

Tired tonight, it was a long day. Matt cried/yelled/screamed when I left him, nothing quite like a guilt trip before work. I guess it will take a little time for him to settle in with these new faces around him. The girls told me he loves being outside with the slightly older kids and got VERY cranky when he had to go in with the babies. He was still cranky when I got to the centre, he was walking around with a bit of a scowl on his face and I knew right away something was up, so asked the girls about it, that's when they told me about the playing outside.

Work was fine.

Did a Tupperware party tonight, very successful so I am pleased about it. Wore me out though, I had the kids with me (it was at Justine's) and her house isn't babyproof at all, so had to keep Matt with me when all he wanted to do was chase the big kids round. Well, still made good sales so that is fine.

It will be 9 degrees tonight. I am cold from sitting at the computer table so will head to bed very soon. I have already put the hot water bottle in the bed to warm it up a bit.

Boys are playing at their homeground tomorrow, one in morning and one in afternoon. We are having Thomas over for the night tomorrow, today we have Riku. Will has a play date on Sunday.

your wife

HI there

Frustrated with the car at the moment. As you know we spent a large amount of money recently on mechanical repairs, and since then it seems to be having electrical problems. Just before I got the car fixed a brake light blew, the day after the car was fixed a headlight blew, then the interior light, and the transmission console light still isn't working, and today the power windows stopped working and the ignition is giving me little electric shocks when I go to put the key in. Not good. So I need to take it to an auto electrician asap and spend MORE money on it. At least I got it registered again first!

Scott and Will are looking forward to their visit to mum's during the holidays. I think they will do a couple of visits to the movies and not alot else, but they like hanging out with my bro's so it is all good. They are going up in the second week of holidays. I think Matt will be a little lost without them around.

Recently I have had quite a few patrons at work been gobsmacked when I say how many kids I have. Most people put me as no older than 22, or 23 years! How lovely. I just say that I have good skin (and chubby cheeks) and leave it at that. If they ask me how old I am I say I am in my thirties, that is all I shall reveal!

your wife

Dear Hubby

Well, it is definitely winter here now, with tops of 11 degrees and chill winds keeping us all rugged up. I had to get the hot water bottles out to warm our icy beds!

Soccer was a rush job on the weekend, Scott was playing at nearly the same time as Will in a completely different part of the city, so I got him to his warm-up, organised a lift home for him, then raced back to our local ground for Will's warm-up and game. Unfortunately both teams lost, but Scott said he had a good game and Will made a good effort.

After Will's game we had to race home so I could get ready for work as I was rostered for an afternoon shift (which worked out quite well with soccer, but still left me a bit strapped for time). Work was pretty quiet and I got some preparation done for the upcoming holiday actvities.

Will had his school photos on Monday and insisted on having his hair spiked up. I will send you photos when they come, but you might even be back! These companies seem to work pretty slowly, Scott's photo's took two months to come back. I did take a photo on our camera and will email it if you can't see it on here. It was taken at the end of the day, so be assured all his hair was spiked up that morning, not sure what happened to his fringe during the day, but it looks funny in the photo. Hasn't he got the biggest blue eyes?! Gorgeous!

Monday was also the day when Matt started at his new day-care centre. I stayed with him for about half an hour and then left, he was pretty upset and the girls said he was teary until around lunch. He was better today (Tuesday), but still cried when I left.

I can now ask Matt to get the milk from the fridge when he wants a drink or for his breakfast. I sometimes have to help him lift it out, but he carries it fine.

Isn't he cute?! And he says cheese when you take a photo, this is what he is doing in this shot here...


Matt now has a Thomas the Tank Engine bag that he takes to day care. I couldn't find an Elmo one and the Wiggles ones were too big. So it was a choice between Barbie and Thomas and Barbie came in a close second, lol!

your wife

Evening Sailor

Well, the washing machine is working again. There was a little computer board down in the bottom of it that was the cause of all the fuss, that was replaced and away we went. Yay, 10 loads of holiday washing done! Well, it certainly seemed like that much.

So then I took the car off for a much needed service and repairs to ready it for rego. That took a large chunk out of our savings! And to make matters worse it conked out twice on the way home. I took it back in the next morning and the throttle was cleaned out and the idle adjusted and now it runs beautifully. Oh, and last night I discovered that one of the headlights has blown, but that is a job I can do myself. So now I have to take it to a LPG service place so that I can get the pink slip.

Work is going fine. I was sorely missed and have been told to never leave them again, lol. The kids area was a mess. I have now got that pretty much sorted, with the help of a work experience girl.

The kids are fine. Matt runs around laughing when other people laugh, which makes us laugh, lol. He says 'cool', and in context too, which is pretty neat. Planes are still 'bus' and Wiggles, Thomas, Bob, and Elmo are still 'Elmo'. He feeds himself at the table, no more highchair for him. He likes water and says 'wawa' when he wants a drink. He still has a bottle, but has destroyed three teats in as many weeks, so I need to get serious about weaning him off it. He doesn't like getting dressed, as soon as he is naked he runs away. Matt's favourite food is popcorn. He also likes apples and loves cheese.

Will is a speaking actor in the school play. He was in it Tuesday and it runs again on Thursday. We went to the Tuesday session and he did beautifully. Will's favourite meal is meat pie and chips.

Scott is his usual self. He has some dark fluff on his top lip, I teased him about it. His favourite meal is.....ummm....I can't remember. We were only talking about it the other day....Oh, spaghetti bolognese.

My favourite meal is beef stroganoff with garlic bread.

Oh, I measured the older two this week, Scott is only 10cms shorter than me! Will is definitely taller than Scott was 8 yrs old - 4 cms taller in fact! I haven't measured Matt yet, have to get him to stay still long enough.

thinking of you
your wife

Grrr

While I was on the phone to you last night you would have heard me cursing the washing machine. Anyway I discovered the washing machine no longer wanted to do it's spinning. I managed to get a technician out today and it is a problem with the circuit board. He has told me that I can get it reconditioned for $180 (plus GST and the call-out fee). So it looks like I will be without a machine for a week. A WEEK!!!! Argh!

Then I spent the rest of today driving to shops trying to find clips for venetian blinds. No luck, another argghh! I hate venetian blinds with a vengeance and this just justifies my dislike even further. What a pain in the behind.

So now the night is coming and I feel like I have achieved absolutely stuff all.

Scott is shouting Will to a movie, they have gone to see Speed Racer. I have to pick them up in about half an hour, then we will go and do the shopping. Will has a bye for soccer tomorrow, so I will only have Scott's game to go to and I'll spend the rest of the day cleaning inside and tidying outside ready for the inspection on Monday.

Petrol is 166.9 and LPG is 69.9
your wife

On holiday

Well, we are on our holiday. If you can call it a holiday when you are negotiating three kids! Matt is enjoying himself, Harrison is at a good age to play chasies with, but he has such expensive toys that I have to keep an eye on how Matty treats them. Scott has managed to break a swing and Matt has done something to a toy that Brenny says can be fixed with glue, but that is not the point.

Scott is pretty happy, gets a little bored. We are going to a pet show today in Weethalle, should be entertaining!

Matt says 'tuck' for stuck and 'meow meow' for cat and 'woo woof' when he sees a dog.

I didn't get lost for a change, even coming out to Bren and Pauls new house, which is so much bigger than their old one! It is nice to have a little more space for the kids to run round in.

Matt has a Wiggles bandaid on his hand and he has been playing peekaboo with it! He flips his hand one way, and then turns it back to the Wiggles and says 'peepoo'.

I am not sure when I will get to write again, computers aren't used much in this house, and we are travelling tomorrow. I will try and get to a Internet cafe before Thursday.

Your wife

Dear Sailor

The boys both won their games on Saturday. Will played really well, their team won 7-2 (first half was slow, we were down 2-1, there must have been something in the oranges in the break because our guys came back fighting!). Scott's game I mostly missed, but he said they won 1-0 and that he got his foot on the ball a couple of times, can't hope for more than that.

We had Will's birthday party on Sunday afternoon (a week early because we will be away). We went to a big indoor playground and he had an absolute ball with a few of his mates from school and soccer. It was a great opportunity for me to meet a couple of other mums and spend some time with the ones I knew a bit. It was good fun and we all came home exhausted.


Back at work today and madly getting ready for being away tomorrow to attend/present in, a workshop, as well as getting stuff ready for while I am away next week. There is someone I have never met running tomorrows Rhymetime, she was a late call in because Jennifer has to be away tomorrow too. So I had to have the craft, craft area, and stories, plus full instructions, completely ready for her for tomorrow.

Tomorrow I am taking part in a Children's Services Workshop. I am one of the presenters, thankfully I am only doing small part. I am a bit nervous, but have been practising tonight and feel pretty good about it. I suppose it's when I am up in fornt of 60 or so people that I will get nervous, lol. I am demonstrating a couple of stories that I know off by heart, I hope I don't stuff them up.

Will is practising lines too, for a play he will be in. It is on the Tuesday after we come back from Brenda's. He is pretty ready for it, I have been helping him with his lines and they are doing lots of rehearsals at school.

Scott is fine.

Matt is fine. He says 'come' and tugs on my pants, or pushes me. Usually it is because he wants me to put the Wiggles on. He can say 'off', oh and he started saying 'gop' this week, can you guess what word it is?.......Scott!!! Matt says 'bye, gop' lol!!!!!

nighty night
your wife

Hello Sailor

I forgot to mention yesterday that petrol is now 163.9 cents per lire. If I had to fill the car from empty it would cost $100. I am so glad we have LPG.

Today was a busy day. I went to work early (8.30) so that I could leave early as we had a birthday party to go to tonight (it was on from 4pm-7pm so we were going to miss some anyway).

Right now I am negotiating a discussion about who threw balls first. I reckon mankind have been throwing things at each other since the dawn of time (I daresay Eve chucked the apple at Adam when she gave birth for the first time, maybe she even chucked the whole tree).

Anyway....

I finished work at 4.30pm, went and collected Will and Scott, dropped them at the party, collected Matt, came back to the party. It is amazing how much noise ten boys can make! Surely girls aren't as noisy. It is like boys compete to see who can be the loudest! they had a Pinyata (wow, I don't know how to spell this word and I really can't be bothered looking it up). It was a papier mache balloon and Scott managed to break the stick over it, instead of breaking the thingy (lol). They found a thicker stick but still no-one could break it, so they ended up playing soccer with it until it broke! Pretty entertaining. Justine made it and had done layer after layer of paper, it was really thick. I find Pinyata's scary because of the stick, it is so easy for accidents to happen, but the boys were kept back and under vague control so nothing happened.

We stayed until after 7pm, I helped Justine with some of the cleaning up (it was Thomas's party, he turned 9). I was glad to go home, I had been feeling sick and headachy all day. I think I will have an early night. Matt is in bed and the other two are having a ball fight with the balls that I bought for the ball pit. This has been a pretty regular game for the last couple of weeks, I allow it as long as they clean up the balls.

Scott has completed his exams, he seems confident.

I spoke to Brenda tonight, she is doing fine and is looking forward to having bub. I am so excited about seeing her and having a cuddle with her baby. I have the quilts nearly finished, I'll do some major work on them this weekend.

We have soccer in the afternoon tomorrow, yay, I can have a sleep in until 8am, lol, if Matt lets me.

cheers
your wife

Dear Hubby

I took Matt to see the Wiggles live in concert today. This involved a 40min bus ride each way. Had to laugh at the number of prams they had parked on the sidewalk outside the theatre, and the fact they had 'Pram Control' people, lol.

Needless to say, Matt loved the concert from start to finish. He didn't move from his seat the whole time, except to do a few brief dance moves, so cute. We had a seat riiight up the back (second last row) but it was in a good spot for being able to see the stage (just hard to see the faces on the stage, but who cares, it's the Wiggles!!). I think the funniest part was seeing Captain Feathersword and a duck doing the MC Hammer dance! Matt slept on the bus back, and is still asleep. I have to admit it wore me out too, I should have had a nanna nap, but have other things to do.

Scott is doing exams this week. He is not worried. I will be very interested to see his results and his report card as we have been having some issues with completing assigned work. I will be having a chat to his teachers whenever Parent/Teacher night finally happens.

Will is cool.

your wife

Dear Hubby

I am home with Matt today because apparently he has a cold bad enough for the kindy to send him home. I am yet to see it though. Admittedly he has a wet cough, but he has been home for 4 hours and I am yet to wipe his nose (the Dr said he is fine, bit of a viral bug). Work wasn't too impressed because they are already short staffed for Info desk staff today, but, as Jennifer said, what can I do? It just highlighted the need for us to have someone who can be called upon to replace me. Jennifer put out a call to staff a couple of weeks back, but no-one is interested. Jennifer is willing to do the occasional Rhymetime and Kathryn will do the occasional BOOKclub, but there is no-one willing to do both.

So Matt has a cold. Will has a cold too. Scott and I are fine.

your wife

Dear Hubby

Had a relatively quiet weekend. I had to work Saturday afternnon, so we had a quiet morning at home. Got home at 4.30pm, did the usual rushing around for dinner and baths, then went to bed early to read.

Sunday, slept in till 8am, pottered around with housework, shopped, filled the car up, finished a book, did some sewing, you know, nothing unusual.

Kids are good.

Your wife

Hello Sailor

It's been a busy day today, and better than yesterday.

Today myself and a colleague hosted Biggest Morning Teas at the two libraries. We had approximately 50 people join us for cuppa and cake and we raised $200. Very pleased. It made for a pretty hectic day though! Tomorrow we have our Trivia competition, three of us are running that. We have 6 teams booked in so far - about 30 people. Really pleased with that! We have silly prizes for each round and then a trophy and money at the end. We will give the biggest losers a wooden spoon, lol! Should be fun.

Scott swept and mopped the floor today. He didn't seem to mind, so far the punishment isn't working! I have a list of yuck jobs though, so will keep on him about it.

The teacher's of the schools had a 24 hr strike today (the staffing thing they were upset about before you left). Will went to 'Vacation' care and Scott hung out with Tim at our place. They had a pretty good day.

Petrol now costs 159.9 cents per litre, yuck and gas is at 69.9 cents. Tim Tams went up from $2.29 to $2.89, not sure how they can justify a 60 cent increase, makes it more of a luxury item than ever.

hope you are fine
Your wife

Good Evening

Today hasn't been a particularly good day.

Had Rhymetime at the branch library and had two new children who were very disruptive while the parents chatted. Made it unpleasant for nearly everybody there. I was getting a bit fed up with it by the time we got to craft time, it didn't really get much better. I was glad to pack up and go to lunch, just to have a break from kids and people.

The next couple of hours were fine, then it was getting close to BOOKclub time (this is on fortnightly at the branch library). I had kid after kid come and say, 'BOOKclub today?', I ended up with 14 kids there!! There really was not enough space for them all. When I first took over I had three regulars, now I have 10-12 regulars, and today there was bonus kids. I had prepared for ten, so was up and down stairs getting more printouts done and extra chairs. THe space we use ended up being very crowded and I had one child who wanted to be very disruptive. He is the youngest and has learning difficulties, but I couldn't give him any time today because of the number of kids there. Now I have to figure out what I am going to do about the space issues, as well as worrying about making sure ALL the kids get SOMETHING out of the session.

Finished at 5pm, picked up Matt and Will. Went to get Scott expecting to only have to hang around the soccer fields for 10 minutes. Half an hour later we standing shivering and he is just finishing up. We got home at 6.50pm. Matt was screaming because he was hungry and thirsty and I was at my wits end. Scott had left his soccer bag behind and in it was a house key and his shoes. To top that off we get home and I checked his bag and in it is a letter saying he has detention next week for misbehaviour in class and not completing work (this is in maths which he hates anyway). So not only am I upset at him for losing his gear, I am now upset at him because he is not making an effort.

Also cranky because teachers are having a 24hr strike tomorrow (changes to the way staffing is done that I agree with, as do many people I have spoken to, but not some teachers), such a pain!

I will be glad to go to bed. Tomorrow is the Biggest Morning Tea at the library, I hope it is a better day than today.

your wife.

Dear Hubby

Nothing new to report today really.

Scott still hasn't found his phone so I am going drastic and giving him the most boring/yuck jobs I can think of - the aim is he will get allocated $1 per job to go towards a new phone, the hoped for reality is that he will get sick of the crap jobs and look for the one he has, or at least appreciate he has worked for the phone he will eventually get. I am thinking of getting him one of those Gecko ones, lol, they are programmable so that you can only call and receive particular people. How embarassing for him, lol, it looks like a toy phone and is marketed towards primary school kids.

He has definite holes in his shoes now, will have to add that to the list of 'must do asap', along with the car repairs.

Will is fine. He is collecting rugby league cards and they are very popular, so I have to buy the paper as soon as I get to work or else I have no end of trouble trying to get the cards later in the day.

Matt feeds himself.

Work was fine, a couple of rude customers but nothing is perfect, hmmm.

Got the older two hair cuts on Saturday. Short back and sides and a major tidy on top.

Your wife

Goodness!

A smack on my hand for being so slack! I honestly did not realise that I hadn't written at all this week.
Monday - As you know I was pretty crook on Sunday, and I woke up Monday just feeling like I had been dragged around the back of a truck, lol, bit extreme but you get what I mean. So I rang in sick, got the kids organised, dragged myself out to the car, got the kids to school/daycare and came home to spend the day on the lounge sleeping.

Tuesday - went back to work. I still felt quite slow so took it pretty easy.

Wednesday - pretty much back to normal other than a bit of a cold. Ran around after work picking up kids - Scott walked to soccer so I had to pick him up when it finished.

Thursday - In to work early as usual, so that I can finish early enough to take Will to Soccer. Dropped him off, went and picked up Matt and got back in time to pick Will up. Home sweet home.

Friday - Normal day except that I was asked to work till closing as we are short staffed. Finished at 6pm, picked up Matt from daycare and Will from Ally's, got dinner (KFC, yuk) picked up Riku and then home.

Not really sure why I didn't write this week, other than I wasn't on the computer much at all, quick check of emails and some banking and then off again. I have been working on Harrison and his new bro's quilts and have been doing a bit of reading. I've also been going to bed earlier than usual.

Matt says 'guck' for truck, 'peese' for please, 'go go go' at the soccer, 'bus' for planes and buses! He's very cute.

Scott has been doing the National Testing this week, he thinks he did just fine. He showed me the practice maths q's and he had gotten 23 out of 30, I am happy with that and if he did that well in the actual testing I would be even happier. He finally found his MP3 player, in his desk drawer (duh!), he had also misplaced his soccer shorts - they turned up in his clothes drawer (DUH!). Still haven't found his phone though. Grrr. No pocket money or computer time till he finds it.

Will is going great. Still as into fighting and swords as ever, still climbing anything that stands still! He's very interesting sometimes (when he isn't babbling), he has an awesome imagination.

Both the older two need haircuts, I have to fit it in somewhere, maybe on Saturday. Actually, that is a good idea. In between soccer games may be fine.

Thinking of you
Your Wife

Dear Hubby

Scott scared ten years off my life when he wasn't home by 4.45pm today. I allowed him some extra time because he was walking and he can really potter along sometimes, but when 4.30pm came round I was feeling the grey hairs sprouting. I tried phoning the school, no answer, so of course I started imagining the worst. I decided, at 4.45pm, to go look for him, and found him just coming up the drive way. I blasted him out for about five minutes, particularly about the fact that he hadn't called to say where he would be, and pointed out that I work a split shift some Mondays and would have had to miss work to go searching for him. I think he apologised somewhere during my rant, apparently he had been at Homework Center at the school and was quite proud of himself for that, but had given no thought to how I would feel, because he had forgotten it was Monday and just assumed I would be home at 6pm like normal. Grrrrr.

Matt stole the block cheese out of the fridge and started eating it like it was a piece of fruit or a bikkie, until I caught him and took it off him. I had to hide it on the benchtop. He can now say 'cheese peese'. Lol.

The Mother's Day fundraiser thing was ok, a bit of a struggle because I was feeling really sick, but I just worked through it. The kids enjoyed themselves on the jumping castles. It all cost more than I expected and I didn't really get a manicure, it was more of a nail file and a paint job. I wished I had gone for the massage instead, but never mind. Actually, I wish I had stayed home in bed. As it was I slept off and on for the rest of the afternoon, on the lounge. The boys shopped at Smiggle for my pressies and I got some lovely pens and pencils and various other items, plus Will brought home a plant from the school Mother's Day stall that he paid for out of his own money.

Took today off work because I was feeling too rotten to deal with people. I will be ok for tomorrow, I will have Soothers for my throat and tissues close by. I'll just have to try to not get too close to the mums and bubs.

Take care
Your Wife

Good Evening

How are you this evening?

We have not long ago arrived home from Mum's. We had a nice time. I went shares with my bros in a stone turtle for her garden, and the boys gave her some slippers. The boys and I spent some time being crafty last night and made mum a card, which she liked. The boys also made cards for me, I will get them tomorrow. We had a lovely feed of prawns and salad and chocolate cake. She had made it extra big so I could bring some home, but I forgot to take it, so my bros are pigging out, lol.

Our boys are in the lounge room watching Shrek 2. This desire to watch this movie was prompted by a song we were listening to on the way home. Oh, the CD player in the car most definitely does not work, not happy. 2hrs of the CD popping in and out and nothing happening really does get up my nose.

Sweet dreams
Your wife.

Hello Sailor

It's been a pretty good week I suppose. It has gone by quick, as they tend to do.

Filmed Matt a bit. He was rolling over (somersault style) so I had to catch that, and he can climb up on to Will's bed, so I got that too. Today he said 'Come' and 'Guck' (truck). Still says 'Elmo' heaps, particularly when he sees ads or characters for any ABC shows (like Thomas the Tank Engine), and also recognises Sesame Street as 'Elmo'. We still don't own any Elmo movies, so he must be just getting it from Day care.

Scott got a merit certificate from school for his English work. Will's teacher spoke very highly of him when I saw her on Tuesday. The Defence Aide at the school has just been diagnosed with Breast Cancer so she has left the job to spend more time with her family. Not sure what who will take her place. I hope she recovers.

Catch ya
Your Wife

G'Day Husband

Yep, I am writing this while the sun is struggling to break through the clouds. It has been okay weather, not alot of rain the last few days, averaging 20 degrees during the day and 12 degrees at night.

Oh, got sidetracked thinking about the weather, lol, so I am writing this during the day because I am home with Matt, who is not at his best. He was asleep when I got him from daycare at 5pm yesterday, that in itself is unusual. He ate and played and went to bed as normal. He slept in this morning, I got him up at 8am, he had a small bottle and seemed ok. I took him to daycare and while there he vomited all over me. Blech, not pretty. He seemed a bit low so I just decided that it was better to take him home. We had to go to work first so I could let them know and arrange for someone to take my Rhymetime group, or arrange to post a notice that it wasn't on, anyway, Jennifer volunteered and I was able to come home, get changed, and take Matt to the Dr to get the medical certificate that says I needed to be home with him. He seems less energised than usual, wants lots of cuddles, so he isn't well, but I don't think he is sick sick, if you know what I mean. He has just gone down for a sleep.

I went to the Optometrist who said that my glasses looked fine (never mind that I had had a headache all day, she said it wasn't likely that it had been caused by the glasses) and I made an appointment for next Monday.

I have rediscovered 'The Vicar of Dibley' series on tv. It's hilarious! Probably not your style though.

I took a late, long, lunch yesterday so that I could attend a special Mother's Day afternoon tea at Will's school. He was so happy to see me there. He gave me a lovely placemat that he had decorated and TWO cards! I also got a present from Matt yesterday, that he had made at daycare. I sent a present to your nanna Dot and one to your mum. We are going up to see my mum on Saturday, then on Sunday I am going out with Ally and the kids to some pampering event that she told me about. Might treat myself to Chinese for dinner.

Scott is going to Tim's this afternoon, then going to his soccer training. He was a bit annoyed about his ball not fitting into his bag, but worked out what to do about it without any help from me.

Have a great day
Your Wife

Dear Hubby

Busy busy busy!

Saturday morning we were at soccer by 8.30am for a 9am start. We had to park the car far away and walk for about 15 minutes to get to the field because the area is high residential with on street parking. The team Will played against was tough and mean, and a little intimidating, I think. Anyway, we lost 6-1. I managed to keep Matt amused for the 40 minutes or so that the game lasted. We came home, raced around doing housework, then left for Scott's game. He had a 3.30pm start, but they didn't start till nearly 4pm. Matt was over it before the game even started. Scott's team lost, 2-0. Got home at 5.30pm.

Woke up to discover Matt had twisted one of the arms of my glasses around the wrong way, so I spent the first part of my morning freaking out. Got them fixed enough to wear but they don't seem to be sitting quite right. It's been two years since I had an eye test, so it is about time I visited an optometrist anyway.

Got the shopping out of the way this morning and spent some time at home doing washing. I had promised the boys we would head down to the beach for an hour this afternoon, it was a nice day so we headed off after Matt woke from his nap. Matt was a bit bothered by the sand (he hasn't been on the beach since he was a bub) but enjoyed sitting with me watching the birds and the surf while the other two dug huge holes. He ran along the water's edge for a little bit, and got caught by a wave and fell over, he got over it pretty quickly but was now wet! We went home pretty soon after that.

I spoke to Nev today, he and your mum are fine, doing well. Nev says their relationship is going really great, especially now your mum is working at her new job. It is their 4th anniversary soon.

We had Honey Mustard chicken and rice for dinner and I made Date scones today but overcooked them a little bit, they are nice on the inside, but a bit crunchy on the outside.

Off to bed now
your wife

Dear Hubby

Scott bathed Matt and put his nappy on for me tonight, while William and I were making profiteroles, yum yum.

We had hot dogs for dinner (blech!) - soccer training night, although I found out tonight that Scott trains on a Wednesday! from 5pm-6pm, grrr, would have liked to have known this a few weeks ago, before we needed to know it, lol. Anyway, I suggested he organise to go home with Tim on that day and walk to training from there, as I can't leave work early on a Wednesday. That way I can just pick the other two up and then go and get him and go home, nice and simple.

Today was a bit hectic - at work by 8.15am so that I could leave early in the afternoon, then I had a Kindy visit me in the morning from 10.30-11.30, rushed my lunch, then went out to two kindy's, one at 1pm, then one at 2.30pm. Got back to the library and did an hour of paperwork before leaving to get Will for Soccer. Dropped Scott and Will off at the field, then went and collected Matt. Got back to the field and spent 15mins waiting till Will finished his training, then home to our nice dry house (it was lightly raining at the field).

Scott seems to have recovered from his cough/cold/flu symptoms. They didn't worsen. Matt has a slight cold and Will is fine.

Paid out a small fortune for winter uniforms this week, Will's school in particular has a set Winter uniform, and a set day it starts (next Monday). Scott just needed a new pair of pants and trackies for sport, so his wasn't quite as painful as Will's. However, I think I will need to buy Scott new school shoes in the next few weeks, there are a couple of worn areas on his current ones. I'll check for holes next time I get a chance.

Sent you a package today, enjoy....

goodnight
your wife

Hello Sailor

Nothing much to report today.

Dragged the heater out this morning as we were all shivering. Also got the hot water bottles out for night-time, yum yum, toasty toes.

Scott is a bit unwell. I sent him to school today anyway, but may have to keep him home tomorrow. He is complaining of aching bones and sore throat and he has a bit of a cough.

The rest of us are fine.

night
your wife

Hidey ho

Thursday was miserable as far as the weather is concerned, but I had a nice day. I spent the afternoon visiting with a friend, Kylie, who I don't get to see particularly often, she is getting married in August and I will be going up for the wedding. It was lovely to spend time with her and meet her fiance.

Friday was spent driving, well, that's how it felt. Went to mum's to get the boys, spent 2 hours there, then turned around and drove back again. The weather was pretty nasty so it was a slow trip.

Got home barely five minutes before Brenny and Paul and Harrison turned up, perfect timing! We had BBQ for dinner and Ally from up the road came down to have tea too, as her hubby is away and she is a bit lonely.

Saturday was full on, but we didn't actually do much. I finally at long last bought a stroller because I have had enough of lugging that pram around. It was never going to fit in Brenny's car anyway, after everyone was in there wasn't much room for anything else! Anyway, we went over to Manly and wandered around the shops and beach. We had talked about going to Oceanworld, but once we got there we couldn't really be bothered so we just let the kids run around for awhile. We went to the footy match, it was pretty good, abit cold. We got home around 8.30pm.

The boys were very impressed with the in-car dvd system in Brenny's car, they have requested that we buy a car just like it, lol. I commentated the Thomas the Tank Engine movie they were watching - the set comes with ear phones so most of us couldn't hear what was being said, so I thought it would be funny to make up my own script. Needless to say it involved alot of gas, lol, Scott and I found it hilarious, Brenny just thinks I am nuts, lol.

They left early Sunday so I occupied myself with tidying the house, getting washing done and going shopping for food. The day disappeared pretty quickly.

Today I had a flex day and sent the kids to vacation care and day care so I could have some peace and quiet, lol, that's so funny. I hired a carpet cleaner and spent two hours cleaning the floors, then I cleaned and vacuumed the car.

I haven't posted for a few days as you will have noticed, not only because I have been busy, but also because I had got totally sick of the internet speed. It was running at dial-up and alot of webpages actually drop out if the broadband speed isn't fast enough. So today I resolved to do something about it and contacted our supplier. The gentleman was very patient and talked me through the process and hooray! back to fast speed again. Not sure why the problem occurred but it was actually quite easy to fix and if it happens again I will be able to fix it.

After all that I sat down and sewed for an hour then went and got the kids.

Rhymetime is back on tomorrow. Hope my voice is up to it.

It is very cold tonight and I am NOT being wussy. It snowed in Thredbo and Lithgow and Orange. It is currently 11 degrees. It is predicted to be pretty cold all week, so I guess I will be getting the heater out sooner rather than later. I am comfy at temps of 18-25, more or less and I start to get uncomfy.

Well, I am off to bed to snuggle under my quilt.
Sweet dreams.
your wife.

Hi there

Matt is now saying 'Din-dins'. Everything else is 'Elmo'. Well, not really, but it sure seems like it.

Work was fine. Didn't get a good turn-out for an activity today, even though I had a few booked in. I guess the weather might have put them off a bit, it has been raining off and on all day.

This morning on my way to work petrol was 144.9, now it is 153.8. Lovely.

Haven't talked to the boys yet, I'll be ringing them later.

sweet dreams
your wife

Evening

hello there.

I am feeling cranky now because the computer hasn't been 'running', it has been c..r..a..w..l..i..n..g for the last few days and it is driving me round the bend. I had no end of trouble logging in tonight because the page kept timing out. We clicked over to a new month on Sunday, so it can't be because we've gone over the download limit. I shall have to investigate, grrr.

Had a great day at work, got lots done in the morning, then had the Magician in the afternoon. He was a BIG hit! About 40 kids turned up and had a great time, and even the adults were laughing and being thoroughly entertained. A number of people have asked when we are going to have him back, so it might have to be a regular thing (yearly will do, same as the farm). I keep getting parents asking about activities for under 5's, I really don;t run much for them during the holidays. I cater more for the school age kids because they don't get much through the term time and it is a good way of promoting the library to them. It is actually not that common for libraries to do stuff for littlies during the holidays.

I spoke to Jennifer about my holiday time later this year, and we also talked about what needs to be done when I am away. I have almost NO back-up at the moment, if I am sick (haha, don't have time for that), or at training, or on holidays, then the people/kids miss out. We discussed the need for someone who can come in at least when I am away, so on a casual basis. They need to be confident enough to sing (possibly badly, but enthusiastically if that is the way it is), read a story or two, and then run the craft. It isn't complicated. Jennifer is going to look into it further.

Amanda got Matt down at 8pm last night and I asked her how because I have been having so much trouble. Basically she just didn't let him get up again like I do. She picked him up when he yelled, but didn't let him go back downstairs and play. So I tried it tonight and persisted and got him down at 9pm. I will continue to do this and get him back into his routine.

Can't believe it is only Tuesday. I am glad it is a short week, even though I won't get alot of rest because of visitors.

night!
your wife

Dear Hubby

Well, I didn't get to play Yahtzee with Will because Matt wouldn't go to bed. Perhaps this new bedtime behaviour is as a result of you going, since that was when it started. I hope he settles down sometime in the near future because I am not getting any home stuff done while he is awake.

The house has gone to Hades as far as housework is concerned, except for when Amanda comes around and does some of it for me, lol. The bathroom stopped leaking for awhile and I was all ready to point the finger at you and say that it must have been you doing something (although I couldn't imagine what besides taking a cup of water and spilling it on the floor, lol), but then it got all wet again last night. Stuffed if I know where it is coming from. Back to putting towels down again.

Had an easy trip to mum's yesterday, there wasn't much traffic going up but the rain got pretty heavy sometimes. Got a bit lost finding her new place but sorted it out pretty quick. Her new house is ALOT smaller than her old one and they are all finding it taking a bit of getting used to. Even Bert had something to say about, lol. He said to say 'Hi'.

The traffic was pretty heavy coming back. We left at 3pm and so did everyone else, lol, or so it seemed. Still only took just over a couple of hours. The house is awfully quiet without the big boys, and so much less cooking and cleaning! I'd forgotten what it was like with just one small person around.

I must say that I really enjoyed spending time with Will. He is a different kid when Scott is not around, almost no whinging and easy to entertain. I didn't realise what an effect Scott was having on him till he was out of the house. I think I'll need to sit them down and write up some house rules when they get back.

I bought Matt a pair of Wiggle pj's at Coles last night and let him hold them while I finished getting bits and pieces. He loved them so much that I had to fight to get them off him so the checkout girl could scan them!

My friend Kylie is doing a rush visit to Sydney this week, I am hoping to catch up with her for a couple of hours at some stage, but not sure when. I'll be getting the boys on Friday before Brenda and co. arrive. Really looking forward to their visit. It is only 7 weeks till bub arrives!

We have a customer who is a bit challenging sometimes. He mainly requests song lyrics - at least 4 per week, but will phone up with apparently random requests. For example, tonight he called and asked for two song lyrics, then lists of the NSW locations of Hoyts, Greater Union Cinemas, Westfield and Stockland Shopping Centres. None of us have any idea what he uses this stuff for, but it takes up at least an hour of my desk shift finding it all and putting it into a format he can read. Needless to say this kind of stuff really gets up some of the staff's nose, but there is three of us who just deal with it and shake our heads at the oddness of it.

You also get the oddballs who come in wanting to personally email the head guy of AC/DC, for example, who can't comprehend when you say that that is just not possible. And you get people who come in, regularly, to use the computers, but who play the 'I am computer illiterate' line every single time, so who ever is on the desk spends time helping them (doing our job), but having to do it all so slowly that it disadvantages other patrons. Ahh, the joys of being an info librarian and believing in assisting the customer. We now have a policy that says we can only give them time as long as no-one else needs our assistance.

I had a lady come in with her twins on Friday who had forgotten that there is no Rhymetime during holidays. She begged me to at least sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to the boys, so there I sat at the Info Desk singing, lol. But I was rewarded with beautiful smiles from both of them, so didn't mind embarrassing myself just a little (oh, hang on, don't I do that every time I get up and sing, lol).

Well, have a nice evening, hope they aren't working you too hard.
your wife.

It's been a good day

Had a nice day today. I worked this morning and it wasn't too busy. Had a lovely chat with one of my bookclub kids. Came home to happy kids, a freshly vacuumed house and no dishes on the sink, my babysitter is worth every penny. I could have asked your bro to babysit, but I'd prefer not, he tends to just sit on the computer the whole time and that's not babysitting in my book.

Got the kids organised and headed off to catch the 1pm bus to the city. We went to the museum to be amazed by the new Dinosaur exhibit. Matt slept the entire time! He was awake on the bus, then fell asleep while we were walking in the park to the museum. He didn't wake up until we were catching the bus home! Will thoroughly enjoyed the visit. I have a photo of him poking his finger up a replica Dinosaur nose, lol. I think the spiders/bugs were a big highlight for him too. I have been trying to upload a couple of photos but it isn't working today for some reason.

We got home around 4.30pm and I pottered around for a while, then cooked tea (Silverside and roast veges). Will and I are watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and hopefully Matt will go to bed so that we can have a game of Yahtzee.

It was nice to talk to you again today.

sleep well
your wife

Dear Hubby

Today has been a good day. Made it out the door on time. It was raining again. Dropped Will off to Vacation care. No zoo trip for them today, off to the movies instead, so he got to see Nim's Island. Got Matt to daycare and got to work with minutes to spare.

I don't think I have mentioned previously that petrol is now up to 152.9 cents per litre. Not pretty. Gas is still 62.9.

Work was fun this morning, I had two kids booked in for games in the library, and 15 turned up, lol. Lucky for me that I was prepared for that possibility. We played Musical Chairs, Egg and Spoon races and Musical Statues. There were three boys there about 10yrs old that were a bit standoffish at first, but by the end were asking me to keep going! Maybe it was the easter eggs I was handing out! Nah, I think they were actually having fun.

In stark contrast, my board games afternoon session had 4 booked in and none turned up! I wasn't too worried and I went back out the back and powered through some more work instead.
Not doing anything tomorrow for holiday activities, I have a desk shift in the morning and will get on with organising the trivia comp we are having next month (plus promos for the knitting groups, bookclub stuff and whatever else I can get done before home time). Also in the morning I will have a clean up of the children's area as it got trashed today. Not impressed with the number of parents that sit back and allow their kids to treat the library like that.

I bought some retro lounges for the children's section in the library, I'll take a photo for you to see once I have the area set up. There is a double lounge and two singles and they are red with white trim. I hope the kids are kind to them.

Not sure if I mentioned that I had another playgroup/kindy call asking for my services (I could just do outreach/library visits every day with all the requests I have had). I am glad there is such a need out there, but I am only one person and not sure how I can fit everyone in. The other big library in the area no longer does outreach at all and offers a very limited service within the library itself. I will try to fit this one in, because I am a key figure/representative for early child literacy and encouraging parents to read to their children. Have to sell it to my boss and supervisor though, because they want to make sure I don't stretch myself too far.

Will has been a bit emotional this evening. I think he is missing Scott.

Hope you aren't overdoing it.
your wife

Good Evening

Well, I have waved the three boys off on the train tonight. We made really good time into the city which actually worked in our favour. I had thought they might catch the 7.15pm train so we left home at 5.50pm (allowing 40mins for traffic). We were at the station by 6.15pm, so only 25 minutes! I bought the tickets ($6 each, bargain)and was able to pop them on the 6.30pm train instead, saved us hanging around for 40 mins. It also meant they avoided having to swap onto a bus as trackwork was going to disrupt the 7.15pm onwards trains.

I think my brothers enjoyed their time here. They didn't get to do an awful lot because I was at work, but they all went to the movies on Sunday and saw Spiderwick Chronicles and they have been to the park a couple of times and over to the shopping centre too. They played Spotlight and Murder in the Dark with half the neighbourhood a couple of times. I kept them well fed and they had a fairly easy time of it. Scott was being a bit difficult, I think he was trying to impress. He has gone with them so Will and I will have some peace from Scott's picking. Will is off to the zoo tomorrow with Vacation Care. We will go to mum's on Sunday for the day and I will leave Will there then and come back with Matt.

Matt had a really bad night last night and, not surprisingly, got up cranky. I think it is probably just his teeth again, there is a couple still coming through.

The weather's been a bit average. Rain, rain, and more rain, and more rain predicted for the rest of this week.

I received my Graduate Diploma certificate in the mail today. I might frame it and stick it in a box with the Bachelor Degree, lol.

Myself and a colleague ran a knitting class yesterday. Well, we supervised while a couple of lovely ladies ran the actual class. I learnt a new way of casting on. It was a successful class, we had a total of nine teens and adults turn up and all of them went away able to knit. They are all very keen to have a regular knitting session in the library so my colleague and I are organising that and talking it up.

that's it from us for now, take care
your wife

Dear Hubby

It has been a busy few days, so much so that I haven't bothered going near the computer.

We left home Saturday at 8.30am. Will had his game at 9am. They won the game YAY!

Scott then had to be at his field at 10.30am to play at 11am - his first game for the season! They didn't win their game but they played really well. Scott was running from one end of the field to the other for most of the game, and he handled it really well.

In the photo above he is the kid in the middle.

We finished with soccer just after 12pm and by the time we got ourselves organised to catch the bus it was nearly 1pm. Matt fell asleep in the car on the way to the bus stop, and then slept nearly the whole way into the city. We walked from Central to Darling Harbour and finally caught up with my brothers at 2pm. By that time it was too late to go to the aquarium (we thought we might get to go) so we wandered around the markets for awhile and then watched a bloke playing bottles. He was great! Very enthusiastic. Who needs to pay for concerts when you can watch this kind of thing for free! We gave him a few dollars and lots of claps, then went back to Central and caught the bus home. Matt was wide awake for the trip home and everyone on the bus knew it! He did his best impression of Tarzan calling to Jane and tried unsuccessfully to climb out of my arms. He said 'Ding Dong' and tried to press the stop button alot, I encouraged him to press the screw below it. Everytime the bell went to indicate someone had pressed the button Matt would say 'Ding Dong', it was quite cute. We got home at 4.30pm. So we were out of the house from 8.30am - 4.30pm. What a full on day. Matt was so tired that he was asleep by 7pm.

We got to talk to you! The boys appreciated that alot. I didn't have much to say because I generally find it easier to write about daily life, I have more time to think about it, I suppose.

Sunday was spent recovering from Saturday and catching up with the housework. I must have done about six loads of washing by the end of the day, I have no idea where all that comes from.

I brought a box home from work earlier in the week and Matt spent some time playing in that.

It was a nice break from watching the Wiggles and Playschool, lol. Matt and I spent time playing with the boxes and stacking blocks on top of each other.

So today I am back at work and finishing preparations for holiday activities. My bros have been quite happy to hang out with our big boys and will do so again tomorrow and Wednesday. Scott has asked to go up with them on Wednesday and I will check with mum to see if this is ok. It would be nice not to listen to him and Will argue. They don't have any training or games this week, so no commitments that he would be missing.

That's it from me for now.

Hugs

your wife

Hello Sailor

how are you going? Swimmingly I am sure, lol, lame joke, I know.

Matt has been practising going up stairs upright. He holds my hand and has a hand on a rail or wall and does one step at a time. Matt is very cheeky in the morning when we are leaving for school and likes to get out the door and run up the road. He thinks it is hilarious.

Scott and I stayed up last night to watch a show on the ABC about homeless kids in Surry Hills. It gave us an opportunity to discuss drugs and alcohol and he reassured me that he won't be smoking or taking drugs, but he will drink. So I emphasised the importance of being sensible about it and used you as an example (you have a few on the weekend, but you aren't silly about it). Glad to know where he stands on these issues and I hope he feels a similar way in the future (I'd be quite happy if he decided not to drink too, lol). We talked about some other stuff too but my mind has gone blank.

Scott got his needle yesterday. He complained about his arm hurting a bit. He said when the nurse was getting ready to give him the shot he kind of shuddered so she handed him this little toy, we thought this was really funny cause he didn't know what it was for, so it seemed really bizarre.

Will is cool. He has an email address now so he feels all grown up and is looking forward to getting some mail (hint hint).

Work is good. I have a headache, I am looking forward to going home in a few hours. School holiday activities start next week so it will be a busy time. My brothers arrive tomorrow and stay until Wednesday.

smiles from
your wife

Hello Hello!

I missed yesterday because I didn't go near the computer! How unusual is that! Got home at 6pm as usual and rushed around tidying and feeding hungry mouths before my visitors came. They arrived at 7.30pm and left at 9pm. Scott mucked up heaps and wouldn't go to bed when he was told and Will was overexcited and hard to settle. Matt did not go to bed until I did, at 11pm. Obviously I don't have visitors very often!

I got Will's spider suit done, he looked great, very spidery. Hopefully he has a nice time at school in it. Both the big boys were impressed with it.



hugs
your wife

Hello Sailor!

Hope all is chugging along nicely with you.

Well, I have sat for a few minutes trying to think of something to tell you. Ummmm.

I ordered photos online and they arrived today, there are some great ones in there.

I was fractionally late picking up Will today because Matt wanted to walk, literally, all the way up that hill. He did it too, and I picked him up at the top and carried him the rest of the way. Will's teacher pulled me aside to let me know that the parents of the kids who peed on Will's bag were absolutely horrified and have offered to purchase Will a new bag. I happily accepted. Not that his bag smells or anything, I am just glad the parents are being responsible.

Well, tomorrow I will be madly making a spider suit for Will's Bug ball on Wednesday. It is on during school hours, not sure if he wears his outfit or takes it with him, there has been no note. I think I will give his teacher a call and clarify that. Also tomorrow I have a neighbour and her daughter coming over for some patchwork discussion. The daughter has been told by her school to make a quilt. That's it apparently. No pattern, no info, no nothing. She has purchased some fabrics and we will look at some patterns and then set up a time table of some sort. It has to be completed by the end of term 2. I will help her along as needed.

Scott didn't hand in a History assignment when it was due so he is madly working on it this week. Silly boy. He knows the consequences if he fails any subjects.

Oh! The guitar hero thingy! We had 12 turn up!! YAY! It went well, two boys (not ours) walked away a little richer and all of them are keen to do it again (I think the huge screen was a big hit). We ran a bit late because so many turned up, but it also meant that we could turn up the music because the library was closed. We had pizza and drinks at the end. It was a good result and hopefully the next one will be even better!

Take care
your wife.

Good evening husband

I am truly glad the day is nearly over. I am tired. The older kids picked at each other when we were out shopping and just got me so cranky. Matt didn't have a sleep today so he is cranky too. What a pleasant household we are, lol. If I was a drinker then today would be a good day to crack open a bottle of wine. Instead, I will get a good book and go to bed early.

Horton Hears a Who was apparently a good movie, but since I spent most of it entertaining Matt in the foyer I wouldn't know.

Tonight we are partaking in Roast Chook and Baked Veges followed by Vanilla Icecream with Choc Topping.

sweet dreams
your wife

Dear hubby

Scott had school photos done yesterday. Will did a speech at school about Spiders. Someone peed on his bag, but he doesn't know about it, the teacher found it and washed it and he was told that it got wet. Spoke to the teacher and she said it wasn't a personal attack, the bag was hanging outside the classroom and some kids thought it would be funny to take it in the toilets. They were caught and dealt with.

Earlier this week I bought new computer chairs from one of those online bargain shops. They arrived yesterday, so I made one last night when I got home from my craft group and Scott and I made the other today. They are blue, have gas lift and they are comfy.

Will played a great game of soccer today. The final score was 0-0. YAY! Apparently the team they played won last weekends game 3-0, so it was good to see our lot defend well and prevent them from scoring at all.

Decided to rearrange the dining area/computer area today. Basically I just ended up swapping stuff from one side to the other. It was a good opportunity to give those hidden areas a good clean. It looks like it will work this way, time will tell. One of the legs of one of the dining chairs fell off completely, I think I am going to have to get the drill out and put screws in to hold it together till you get home.

Well, we are off to play Guitar Hero in the library soon. Should be fun. We bent the rules (that I made, lol) so that Will can play. One of the staff is bringing two of her nephews and one of their friends and it looks like Tim is coming along too, so maybe we will have a good turn out after all!

hugs from
your wife

Dear hubby

As you may recall, I start work early on a Thursday so that I can leave early to get Will on time for soccer training. It is very hard to start the day any earlier than I already do so it is generally a stressful and disorganised morning. Today was no different. I got to work on time, but forgot my purse (not actually a bad thing, lol), forgot Will's T-shirt for soccer again, and forgot the video game that was supposed to go back tonight. I had my head screwed on so at least I didn't forget that.

Scott had a barky cough and looked like death warmed up this morning so I allowed him to stay home. I called him a couple of hours later and he sounded much improved. Hmmm. He is going to school tomorrow.

Work was fine. It has been hard to be chirpy and motivated this week (can't imagine why, lol) and I think that has affected my performance. No one is complaining though, so I can't be doing too badly. Maybe it's just my own perceptions of myself. I was disappointed to only have 6 registered for the Guitar Hero comp this Saturday, I had pictured a healthy crowd of about 30. I had three different colleagues reassure me on this matter, the general consensus is that teens are lazy and it's hard to get them to do anything. We had another 2 register at the last minute so I have to be satisfied with a total of 8. We tested out the equipment today and everything is working fine. It looks really cool on the big screen, those kids don't know what they are missing.

Picked Matt up and chatted to Trisha about his nappy rash. There hasn't been any improvement at all so she has suggested I pick up some special cream for him that might do the trick. I will get it tomorrow.

Wazza is going to babysit for me tomorrow night so I can go to my craft thingy without the kids. I won't be able to stay as long, but that is ok, I can get alot done in a couple of hours.

We made homemade pizzas for tea tonight. The boys made one each and Will ate heaps! He made a pig of himself, lol, I guess he just enjoyed his own work. Pretty simple too, bit of pizza sauce, some salami, some ham, some pineapple, and a dash of cheese. What more could a kid want!

Chatted to mum tonight. Luke has moved out and she's noticing the difference already. She's still madly packing, they move on Saturday.

Hugs
your wife